Saving This (The McCallans #5) Read Online Free

engagement!”
    “In all fairness, it was an accident,” Kellie defended herself. “I didn’t know it was going to go that far.” She tried not to laugh but was unsuccessful.
    “Well if you can’t handle your weapon, you shouldn’t be allowed to use it,” Tate arched an eyebrow at her.
    “Oh? And you’re an expert on, uh, your weapon?” she countered.
    He jutted a cocky chin forward, “Always,” and then gave her a piercing gaze.
    “Oh really? So last night you had full control of your weapon?” she asked him. “I seem to recall you needed a little bit of… ahem …assistance.”
    He snorted out a short laugh. “Um, that was because you offered ,” he corrected her.
    She was about to reply, probably with some other sexual innuendo, but Max cut her off. “Hey now, anyway …”
    Kellie only smiled, and then proceeded to play with Chase as she pushed him around in the car floatie.
    Tate sat at the edge of the pool with his legs dangling in the water. The house manager came out the back door and set a tray of sandwiches and fruit on the table, along with a pitcher of fresh lemonade and bottles of Perrier.
    “Will there be anything else, Mr. McCallan?” Gretchen asked, pausing for his response.
    “That’s perfect, thank you,” Max replied with a nod.
    After she returned to the house, Tate joked, “Well thank you, Mr. McCallan .”
    “Jesus, I can’t get her to call me Max.”
    “You’ve asked?”
    “Yes, repeatedly.”
    “Hmm. Well, tell her she’s fired if she doesn’t call you by your first name.”
    Max laughed. “And then there’s that.”
    “See? Problem solver,” Tate pointed to himself.
    “Unfortunately she’s the one employee here who I actually like. Or…think I might like if we even spoke sociably.”
    “What about Joe? He spends a lot of time with you. You gotta like him somewhat for that to happen.”
    “Yeah I like him too.” Max shrugged at the mention of his current driver/bodyguard. These were employees his father had hired. It was distressing no matter what. For a guy who liked his privacy and was naturally withdrawn from attention, Max strongly disliked having anyone in his daily affairs or routines. Even right now he knew Joe was sitting inside the mansion somewhere with an ideal view of Max and his surroundings, just in case.
    Max waited for a pause in Chase’s conversation with Kellie before he called, “Hey, Chase. You hungry, buddy? Drag Kells out here to feed that baby of hers.”
    They all sat around the outdoor table to eat lunch. It was so funny to see how much Chase had come out of his shell the past few months, especially when it came to Kellie and Tate. He loved them both to pieces, and as sad as it was, Max knew his son was also like that with Jay and Teague once he got warmed up. And it usually did take some time, but there was something about Kellie and how she could jump right in (literally) to set Chase at ease to have a good time.
    “How long do you have him?” she asked subtly as she forked a piece of watermelon.
    “Until Wednesday.”
    She raised her eyebrows. “Wow, five days? How’d you get so lucky?”
    He knew she wasn’t being rude about it. She knew what a bitch Kate was and how particularly hostile she could be when his family was around Chase.
    “She’s on a cruise. You know if it’s convenient for her…”
    He didn’t finish the sentence. He never said anything bad about Chase’s mom in front of him; they were always able to talk about it just enough without clueing him in.
    Kellie gave Max an unhappy frown, but then pointed her fork at him and said, “You know, I was thinking about Cole the other day.”
    “I just talked to him last week. Funny you mention him.”
    “Yeah, even after his wedding it’s hard to remember he’s back. So is he going to help you out?”
    Max cast her a curious glance, hoping it was just a coincidence that she’d brought it up. “What do you mean?”
    She nudged her head toward Chase, who had